The Angry Red Planet (1959)

Earth's first manned rocket to land on Mars is returned to the home planet but with less crew than when it took off. Via flashback, the scientists and doctors of the day listen to a survivor recall what happened on the distant planet.
Dir. Ib Melchior's version of Mars is the reddest that I've personally ever seen. The overcompensating CineMagic (solarisation) process that helps mask cheap FX (sort of) will polarise viewers. I liked the FX, even the very obvious 2D paintings. What ruined it were the open helmets; that was asking too much of me. And I'd have preferred if the eerie space music had been used solely for characterising the Mars times, as opposed to wherever and whenever to fill the lack of atmosphere elsewhere. Gotta love that creature, though!

2 ear twitches out of 5